The NTSB has cited the FAA's special issuance medical policies as a contributing factor in the death of an airshow pilot in 2011. In its final report (top of the queue) on the crash of a T-28 at the Thunder Over the Blue Ridge show in Martinsburg, W. Va., the board determined that the airplane crashed because pilot Jack Mangan was incapacitated by complications from a heart attack at the controls. But the board, in an I-told-you-so admonition, said the FAA knew Mangan was at risk for a heart attack and failed to stop him from flying aerobatics despite an NTSB recommendation in 1999 to prevent those with special issuance medicals from doing high-G maneuvers. "Contributing to the accident was the [FAA's] willingness to allow an airman with well documented, severe coronary artery disease to perform high-risk, low altitude aerobatic maneuvers."
This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://www.avweb.com/news/faa-medical-policies-cited-in-airshow-crash